Veggietale's A Treat

Thousands Of Kids And Parents Filled First Baptist Church Of Orlando To See The New Morality-based Video.

October 1, 2000|By Stephanie Erickson of The Sentinel Staff

It seemed the Backstreet Boys were in the house, except that Bob the Tomato and Larry Boy the Cucumber took center stage instead of Nick and Brian -- and this was God's house instead of a nighttime concert venue.

Parents wedged strollers between pews and ecstatic children as thousands filled First Baptist Church of Orlando on Saturday for the premiere of the latest morality-based VeggieTales video.

Longtime church member Joe LaBash said the church has a pretty festive atmosphere during the holidays, but the showing of the computerized children's video on three monstrous screens took things to a whole new level.

"The kids go nuts,'' LaBash said before the day's second sold-out show. "It's like a rock concert.''

More than 6,000 people showed up for the morning show, and just as many were making their way into the church early in the afternoon while LaBash, a volunteer, scurried about, weaving among scampering kids to help ensure the shows went on glitch-free.

The Orlando gathering was the largest of an estimated 350 being held across the country this weekend. The morning and early-afternoon shows sold out, so organizers last week added a third show for later Saturday afternoon.

"We sent tickets to Miami, Leesburg, Daytona Beach -- they're coming from all over,'' said Brian Cline, manager of a Christian bookstore that sponsors new-release parties for the wildly popular VeggieTales videotape series. "It was wall-to-wall people -- inside and outside -- after the first show.''

Since the series' first release in 1993 of Where's God When I'm S-Scared?, 18 million videos have been sold.

"My kids are crrrrrazzzy about the VeggieTales,'' said Orlando mother Angie Gleason. "They love the songs."

It appeared Mom did, too, as she sang aloud to the infectious VeggieTales theme song while bouncing baby Avery on her knee.

"He's psyched!'' she said as Avery let out a high-pitched squeal.

Before the show began, 3-year-old Kaylee Baer stood on a pew, leaning against her dad for support, and stretched her blond head as far as she could, waiting to see Larry Boy.

"They're nice and wholesome,'' Ross Baer said, explaining why he brought his daughter to see the show.

They're the veggies that kids actually like, and they teach values such as honesty, kindness and forgiveness in a wacky way without being preachy.

In an earlier video, Junior Asparagus and the Grapes of Wrath learn the importance of forgiving others. In another, Madame Blueberry has more stuff than she could ever use but still isn't happy.

Adults and children were mesmerized during Saturday's showing of the newest offering, Esther: The Girl Who Became Queen, which is a lighter version of the Old Testament story about a young Jewish woman in ancient Persia who thwarts a plot to wipe out her people.

Except for a few dozen crying babies, the throngs of kids sat quietly for the new video -- clearly hooked on the latest vegetable tale.

"At something like this, everyone has a smile on their face,'' Cline said.